I Was a Toddler-age Tosspot

Yes, I confess.
By the time I was 3, I was hooked on the ol’ brew.
(And, apparently, I passed that on to my eldest. Though, I preferred a bottle)
Observez Vous…

Gee, thanks Mom!

Actually, I was more hooked on Dad…I was his toddlin’ sidekick in mighty whitey tights! Anything he did, I wanted to do. Anywhere he was, I wanted to be. Not so unusual for little girls to consider their Dads their first love and first superhero.

Always ready to catch me

There again too…I guess boys are of the same mind. Like father like sons?
You betcha!

This is how the story goes…

Once upon a time, in a little town far, far away, there was a little girl who lived with her father, mother, and 3 brothers. That’s her below…the twinklin’ toddler in her mighty whities…

Her father was a hard-working man; working 2, sometimes 3 jobs to make ends meet. And her Mother was not your ‘typical for the times’ housewife either.

Isn’t she pretty?

Because, busy as she was, having had 4 kids in 5 years, she still held a full-time job outside the home.

But, this was also a time when families lived close together, daycare centers were non-existent, and family was relied upon to pitch in where they could. (Glad it was you, Gram)

Now, seeing as these were hard-working folk, what little free time there was, was catch-up time, family time, friends time. Picnic parties, horseshoes, reunions, celebrations…but all the time, busy!

But…let’s not forget the biggie…working on cars in the yard.

That all-american male’s favorite pastime. Grease-monkeyin’ in the driveway.
Am I right?

So anyway, this is how a toddlin’ sidekick to her Daddy’s Superman, gets her tights in a twist…

A typical weekend afternoon, circa 1963…

The boys tinkerin’ in the driveway with the women folk fixin’ victuals and watchin’ babies inside. A regular tune ‘er up, tink’er up, smoke’em up, drink’em up, Sa’day afternoon. Rev her up..sounds good! Close her up…hit the dirt for a test run. No need for cleanin’up, we’re comin’ right back.

Ya with me? Good.

To continue…

The boys are gone. The women are inside with (8 of the usual 9) the kids. One smarty pants little toddler decided she missed her Daddy and went outside looking for him. She calls for him. No answer. She can’t see him. But wait…there…in the driveway. “What’s that?” she wonders in her terrible-three tiny little brain. “Can it be?” she asks herself “Why, I think it’s a Daddy bottle and ooooooh, he left it for me!” silently gigglin in delight she was “I love a good Daddy bottle. It’s so much more yummy than my ucky ol’ boring one.” she hmmphs at the thought. She looks around. No one. She listens keenly for any sound that would suggest Mommy was coming to take her Daddy bottle away. Nothing. “Yay” she thinks as she’s already on the move, toddlin’ toward that dark brown delight she knows is filled with liquid gold. She stretches those short and chubbies just far enough to grab the neck of that father-forgotten treasure, tips it to her lips like the bottle pro she is…and chug-a-lugs.

That was the last thing I remember prior to waking up in the hospital God knows how much time later.

You see, the brew I knew and thought of as Dad’s liquid gold, was what I now call, liquid fire.

As was the custom then…and I’ve seen it again and again in the years since…these man-boys would use beer bottles as containers for gasoline when working on their carburetors. They were always plentiful, usually empty, so why buy a gas can when a beer bottle will do?

Exactly! Logic boys….logic!

The madness that followed can quite easily be imagined…and remember, this was an itsy bitsy town.
I don’t remember much of the ensuing chaos…but have heard the details often.

The boys returned to find my Mother holding me in a panic. No other vehicle. No hospital nor ambulance within 8 miles and 13 minutes (rural roads ya know). And a non-breathing child turning colors no human should be. Parents and me in the car. Dad driving hell-bent for leather, Mom holding me. My head out the window like a dog. I do remember being told NOT to throw up. I do remember having zero conscious thoughts at this time. Arrive at the hospital alive, though I was told I didn’t take a single breath, as well as my Mother being told that it’s a miracle I didn’t vomit, for that would have been the end of my life as I knew it. I do remember too, waking in a crib-bed with a top (?), like a cage, feeling trapped. But, when I could, I remember looking out the window and seeing my Memere’s house and it made me feel better.

Now, all of us that are parents, know this irrefutable fact:

You CANNOT turn you back on a toddler EVER. Even for a second. Because one second is one second TOO LONG!

I find it terribly ironic that both David and Mike thought basic was the worst time of their lives, while I really didn’t have a bad time at all. Yet, they look like they’re having a blast with their smiles, and I’m serious as hell! Must be the difference between 17-18 year olds and a 25 year old.

you had just spent weeks with boys that had left home for the first time in their lives…I don’t imagine it was much fun. as to why daryll and daryll are smiling? seems they were both ‘relieved’ they made it thru!

Well I’ll say it again: such a crazy story, and I think I will be watching my two-year-old even more diligently that I do. I have to ask though: what would have happened if you had vomitted? What’s the bad part about that? I would have thought that emptying your stomach of gasoline would have been a good thing.

Wee doggy. I sure am glad you survived. Your little self would have been so short on this earth and your parents would have had a deep sense of guilt for the rest of their days. I bet it still haunted them for years. It is true that you can not take your eyes off a toddler ever. Crap happens in the blink of an eye.

Excellent Rhonda. Even though I already knew the story. Excellent. So so sososososososo happy with the ending! I cannot even imagine your poor mother being able to function. Holy heck! Especially at that time, I can’t see how she wouldn’t be positive it was all her fault.

I’m sure ‘fault’ was a big part of her thinking for quite a while, but as a parent, I know shit happens and happens fast…toddlers are masters at disappearing in the blink of an eye! I really do not blame her.